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| “ | You know I've been alone for... a while now. Without any…purpose. Just hiding. It's no way to live. Not for a Jedi. Or a droid. Maybe Cere was right. Maybe we're done hiding | „ |
| ~ Cal Kestis, to BD-1. |
| “ | The lives of every child on that list will be forever changed. Not by us. Their destiny should be trusted to the force. | „ |
| ~ Cal to the crew, deciding to destroy the holocron to protect the children. |
Cal Kestis is a major character in Star Wars franchise, being the main protagonist of the 2019 action-adventure video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, its 2023 sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and its spin-off novel Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, and a cameo character in the 2022 novel Star Wars: Brotherhood.
He is a former Jedi Padawan who survived the Clone Wars as well as the fall of the Jedi Order. He and his master, Jaro Tapal, had been above Bracca aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer when Order 66 was issued. While Tapal was killed by their clone troopers, Kestis escaped to the planet aboard their escape pod. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Kestis sought to avoid the great purge that killed most of his fellow Jedi by creating a new life for himself on Bracca, working as a rigger with the Scrapper Guild.
Despite hiding from the empire for five years, he was discovered by the inquisitor Second Sister, but was saved by former Jedi master Cere Junda and captain Greez Dritus. Agreeing to help Junda restore the Jedi Order, Cal learned that Eno Cordova had hidden a holocron in the Bogano vault, and decided to retrieve it to find the location of the force-sensitive children. During his quest, Cal was knighted by Cere and became friends and crew mates with the android BD-1 Nightsister Merrin, and succeed in retrieving the holocron. However, he would abandon his goal to restore the order by destroying the holocron to protect the children from the empire.
Cal continued his fight against the Empire despite the Mantis crew separating, ultimately feeling that he was battling an unstoppable foe. After a mission on Coruscant went awry, Kestis found himself on another journey to reach the planet Tanalorr to make it a haven for anyone wanting to evade the Emperor's regime. During his adventure, Cal was betrayed by the fallen Jedi Bode Akuna, whom's actions resulted in the deaths of Cere and Eno Cordova, as well as countless members of the Hidden Path. Once defeating his former friend, Cal and Merrin took in Bode's daughter Kata as they continued to help others reach Tanalorr.
He is voiced by and motion-captured by Cameron Monaghan, who also voiced Superboy in Reign of the Superman.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Cal Kestis was born around 32 BBY to unnamed parents as a force-sensitive child, and was take in by the Jedi Order as a youngling. Like any youngling, he was taken to the gathering on the planet Illum to retrieve his kyber crystal. During his training, the order noticed that Cal had the potential to become a great Jedi, but he struggled anytime he experienced failure. Seeing this, the council decided to place Jaro Tapal as his master to take away Cal's fears. Under Tapal's guidance, Cal was able to learn new skills, and was found wisdom from Jaro's words on failure and obstacles.
Great Jedi Purge[]
When undergoing a lesson by his master, Emperor Palpatine executed Order 66 to the Clone Troopers as a way to eliminate all Jedi in the galaxy. Upon its activation, Tapal was able to sense it quick enough to kill the clones, and tasked Cal to find a way to reach an escape pod to reach the planet of Bracca. During the escape, Jaro was mortally wounded by the clones, but Kestis was able to save his master by using the force. In the escape pod, Tapal told Cal to not trust anything except the force, and to await for the council to launch it's signal. On the planet of Bracca, Cal went into hiding to prevent anyone from knowing of his past, but kept his master's lightsaber to honor him.
While on the planet, Kestis' connection to the force was damaged, presumably out of guilt of his master's death. As a result, Cal lost of most of his training, and anytime he would meditate, he would lose control of his powers. During the five years on Bracca, Kestis joined the Scrapper Guild as a rigger, and became friends with the fellow scrapper Prauf.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order[]
While working on line cables for a crashed star destroyer, Cal was forced to use the Force to save Prauf from falling to his death. Though not caught doing so and Prauf promising to not tell anyone, the incident drew the Inquisitors to Bracca, with the Second and Ninth Sisters being sent to kill or induct the Jedi. Prauf would speak out against the Empire and meet his end by the Second Sister, angering Cal, who was forced to escape. While battling Stormtroopers on a train, Cal encountered Cere Junda on the Stinger Mantis, and briefly dueled the Second Sister before Junda's intervention. Meeting Cere and the ship's captain Greez Dritus, Cal was explained their intentions to restore the Jedi Order to defeat the Galactic Empire. He also learned that Cere was a Jedi once herself, but broke her connection to the force.
On the planet Bogano, Cere tasked Cal with reaching the vault and meeting the individual that could help him on his way. After meditating, Kestis was greeted by the droid BD-1, who assisted him in reaching the vault and seeing the message left by Jedi master Eno Cordova. The master explained that he had placed a holcron within the vault as he sensed something would happen to the order, and showed the next destination to Zeffo to find the tombs. While leaving, Cal encountered another message from Cordova, who explained that the Zeffo also showed an interest on the planet Dathomir. Traveling to Zeffo, Cal discovered the ancient ruins that held Eilram's tomb, where he found Cordova's next message to find Tarfful on Kashyyyk.
Returning to their main objective, the Mantis crew travel to Kashyyyk, where Cal assists Saw Gerrera and the Partisans in liberating Wookies from the empire. After taking the refinery, Cal couldn't get any information on Tarfful's location, but Mari Kosan and Choyyssyk reveal that they can find his location for him. Before he can reach Tarfful, Cere informed Cal that the empire was close to unearthing Miktrull's tomb on Zeffo. The crew then returned to the planet, where Kestis was ambushed by the Second Sister, who revealed herself to be Junda's former padawan Trilla Suduri. He is able to survive the duel thanks to BD-1, and continued onto the tomb despite Sunduri's hacking into his communications.
Inside the tomb, BD-1 played Cordova's message there, with the master telling the only way to open the vault on Bogano was to locate the astrium. When returning to the Mantis, Cal encountered a bounty hunter and was captured by the Haxion Brood, where he awoke in Sorc Tormo's station. While participating in the arena, Kastis was rescued by Cere and Greez, who apologized to the Jedi due to his gambling debt catching up to him. Kestis then confronted Cere on giving up Trilla to the empire, but she explained that she was tortured endlessly by a shadowy figure. While arguing, it was cut short when Mari communicated with the Mantis crew that Tarfful was in the shadowlands.
Returning to Kashyyyk, Cal found the planet to be mostly in ruin due to the Second Sister's arrival, but he was able to meet Tarfful. The Wookie informed Kestis that he needed to climb the origin tree, and during the journey, Cal was attacked by the Ninth Sister. He was assisted by the Shyyyo bird that he previously helped, and managed to defeat the sister in combat. Seeing another message from Cordova, he learns that the master found an astrium years before, and that another could be on the planet Dathomir. Heading to the planet, Cal was confronted by the Nighsister Merrin, who accused the Jedi Order of causing the massacre of Mother Talzin's clan during the Clone Wars. The witch used her magick to summon the Nighbrothers and her undead sisters to attack the Jedi, but he was able to deal with them and the creatures on the planet.
When reaching the tomb, Cal encountered a mysterious wanderer, who explained how long he was stranded on the planet while how it was also dangerous there. After dealing with the Nighbrothers, the Jedi reached the tomb, where he remembered the day of his master's death before battling a vision or the spirit of Jaro. During the duel, his master's lightsaber kyber crystal was destroyed, leaving Kestis defeated. While trying to return to the Mantis, the wanderer revealed himself to be Taron Malicos, a Jedi who decided to study the dark side and the Nightsister's magick. Taron asked Cal to join him for a quest of power, but Merrin arrived and decided to destroy the two. Cal managed to evade Merrin's fallen sisters to reach the Mantis, where Cere advised him to find another kyber crystal on the planet Illum.
On Illum, Cal managed to build his own lightsaber by using Tapal and Cere's emitters to build a double bladed one, and returned to the Mantis to find the astrium. On Dathomir, Kestis managed to speak to Merrin and explained what the Jedi Order was and his past trauma. After she revealed of her own past, Merrin agreed to help Cal defeat Taron, doing so by burying Malicos alive within the planet. Merrin then asked to join the crew of the Mantis, and Kestis retrieved the astrium before returning to Bogano. Inside the vault, Cal saw a vision from the Zeffo where he found the holocron, found the children and decided to teach them before the empire found them. The vision then showed Cal that he would be captured by the empire alongside the children, and be turned into an inquisitor due to the torture he endured.
Cal was then confronted by the Second Sister, to retrieved the holcron as Kestis relived Trilla's memories form her lightsaber. He then returned to the Mantis and informed Cere, who decided to help Cal retrieve the holcron before knighting him and reconnecting to the force. As Merrin used her magick to cloak the ship, Cal and Junda infiltrated the inquisitor fortress on Nern, and the two separated to find the holocron. In the interrogation room, Kestis battled Trilla and defeated her, and witnessed Junda make amends with her former apprentice. During the reconciliation, Darth Vader arrived and killed Trilla for her failure, leaving Cal and Cere to fight the Sith lord.
The two and BD-1 briefly battled Vader but were overwhelmed due to his vast powers within the force, forcing Cal and Cere to escape by trying to swim to the surface. Cal, Cere and BD-1 were nearly killed via drowning, but Merrin used her magick to teleport and save the three. On the Mantis, Kestis decided to destroy the holocron to prevent the empire from learning of their location, believing the children's destiny should be trusted by the force. Upon doing so, Cal asked his crew mates where they should go next, with them now able to explore the galaxy.
Jedi: Battle Scars[]
By 11BY, the Mantis crew participated in infiltrating the Haxion Brood, which ended in the team escaping when the mission went awry.
Crew Separation[]
Between 11-9BY, the Mantis crew separated on their own terms as Cal remained focused on defeating the Empire, a battle that started to weigh down on him. He didn't understand why the crew separated initially, but determined to stop the Emperor's regime, joined Gerrera's Partistans with BD-1. Kestis also started a new crew with Gabs, Bravo and the twins Koob and Liz, forming close friendships with them. He also became acquainted with Bode Akuna, whom was secretly an imperial spy tasked with infiltrating Cal's crew.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor[]
On Coruscant, Cal and his crew perform a mission to obtain intel for Gerrera's cause from the planet's senator, Daho Sejan. After collecting the intel, the team are ambushed by the Ninth Sister, resulting in the deaths of Cal's crew and the Inquisitor herself by the Jedi's hands. Kestis and Bode narrowly escape from TIE fighters, and the former travels to the planet of Koboh to see if Greez can repair the Mantis' gyro device. On Koboh's surface, Cal encounters hostile creatures and the Bedlam Raiders, a group of marauders under the command of Rayvis. The Jedi Knight encounters the group's leader when stopping him from killing Turgle, who attempted to sell Rayvis a fake tuning device.
Meeting Greez at his cantina, the Latero guides him to enter the abandoned smuggler's tunnel after failing to convince Cal to give up his battle against the Empire. Inside the tunnels, Cal encounters a High Republic droid named ZN-A4 (also known as "Zee") trapped in cables, freeing her and seeing a memory of her master Santari Khri. The memory showed Khri tasking Zee with finding the "key" in the forest array and wiping her memory of how to navigate Tanalorr. Helping Zee, he is given the tuner that Rayvis was searching for and travels to the array after helping the droid reach the cantina. Once inside the array, he finds a man missing a limb inside a bacta tank and experiences a force vision.
The vision shows the man to be the Jedi Dagan Gera speaking with Khri on Tanalorr, intending to ask the Jedi Council to build a temple there. Cal then learns that the planet is protected by the Koboh Abyss, blocking communications and preventing anyone from reaching its surface directly. When the visions shows invaders reaching the planet, Gera sees Cal and asks the Jedi to free him from the tank. Doing so, Kestis explains how the Jedi collapsed before Dagan expresses anger at the order for "betraying" him and bleeding his kyber crystal red. Cal battled the fallen Jedi before being bested and seeing Gera escape with Rayvis, realizing that the Bedlam's leader was searching for the tuner to reach his master.
Returning to Greez and Bode, whom Cal gave a locator to reach him, he explains that he might have found a safe haven for anyone trying to escape the Empire's grasp. The trio decide to focus on reaching Tanalorr, but knowing that they needed information on Gera, travel to Jedha to speak with Cere. On the planet, Cal is reunited with Merrin, whom has become the dreaded "Desert Ghost" and was assigned to Kestis to reach the Hidden Path's base. Once reaching the base, Kestis and BD-1 meet with Cere and Corodva, whom finds two mentions of Dagan - a base on Koboh and a lab on the planet's shattered moon. Cordova then tasks Cal with searching the two locations to find anything they can on how to navigate the Koboh Abyss, and Kestis learns of how Dagan betrayed the order when they abandoned Tanalorr to the Nihil marauders.
Cal returns to Jedha with two damaged devices, learning from Cordova that they were compasses to navigate the abyss, but one is intact since it was stolen by the Nihil. The crew (with Merrin rejoining) return to Koboh and learn that Zee was kidnapped by the Bedlahm Raiders, with Gera and Rayvis intending to gather intel from the droid on the compass. Cal and Bode work together to rescue Zee, managing to do so despite Rayvis gathering information from the tuner to find the compasses' location. Once Zee is returned to the cantina, Cal returns to the shattered moon to find Rayvis, experiencing another force vision of Santari stopping Dagan from taking the compass by slicing off his arm. Despite his actions, Khri decided to place him in a bacta tank, presumably out of compassion for her fallen friend.
Reaching the array in the facility, Cal bests Rayvis in combat, and the Jedi attempts to have the Bedlam's leader to give him the location of Dagan to no avail. Cal is forced to kill Rayvis when he refuses to give information, as the alien wanted a warrior's death after the Jedi Council didn't give it to him centuries before. Cal and Bode reach the top of Santari's observatory to confront Dagan, seeing him watch Khri's final message to him. The duo battle Dagan in combat and are nearly killed by the fallen Jedi, but Cal's use of illusions of Khri allow them to deal the final blows. Retrieving the compass, Cal and Bode leave the observatory and return to Jedha to celebrate their victory.
During the celebration with his crew, Cal admits his feelings to Merrin, starting their romantic relationship. The following morning, the Hidden Path's base is attacked by the Empire as Bode betrays the team, killing Cordova and escaping with the compass. Cal hunts Akuna down and learns that he is a Jedi himself, having survived order sixty-six and planning on reaching Tanalorr with his daughter Kata. Cal is defeated by Bode during the fight and falls unconscious, but later awoken to find a wounded Cere after her battle with Darth Vader. Junda dies from her injuries, causing Kestis to mourn his late mentor and take her and Cordova's corpse onto the Mantis.
Determined to stop Bode, the group travel to the Nova Garon since Cal's locator was still active and infiltrate an imperial facility. Cal confronts Bode in his quarters with Kata, learning that Akuna's past and how he became a spy for the base's commander, Lank Denvik. Bode escapes with his daughter and Kestis, angered at Akuna for his actions, embraces his darkness and kills imperial officers and droids along the way. He then attempts to kill Denvik in an act of anger before being stopped by Merrin, allowing them to escape and leaving Lank for Vader to deal with. Afterward, Cal watches Khri's final message and learns that there is another way to reach Tanalorr - align all of the arrays at the control alignment center on Koboh.
With Zee overseeing the alignment, the Mantis crew reach Tanalorr and confront Bode with Kata. Cal and Merrin battle Akuna until Kata is nearly killed, forcing Merrin to protect the child as Kestis continues the fight. Drawing on the dark side when BD-1 is attacked, Cal bests Bode in lightsaber combat. Pretending to surrender, Bode attempts to kill Cal but fails, with Kestis using the blaster he gave him to eliminate his former friend. Following the battle, the Mantis crew give Cere, Cordova and Bode a Jedi funeral and bring Kata was their ward. While at the pyre, Cal is guided by Cere to guide Kata through the darkness, deciding to instead help her and bring the Hidden Path to Tanalorr for safety.
While adventuring across the galaxy, Cal battled numerous creatures and helped residents of Koboh, even encountering Boba Fett when battling against Caij.
Personality[]
| “ | Our mistakes... are in the past. And it's all of our responsibility and it's about what we do next that's important. You taught me that, Cere. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Cere. |
Cal Kestis served the Jedi Order as a Padawan before Order 66 ensued. After the fall of the Jedi, Kestis went to serve the Scrapper Guild as a rigger, a physically demanding and dangerous job. However, Kestis was regarded for a focused work ethic and sense of humility he generally kept for himself, yet he was quiet and hard-working. Though he refused to speak on his past as he was quite haunted by it, feeling like he got his Master killed and could have done more, usually reacting with anger or dismissive of his past when it is brought up. Eventually Kestis began to open up more about his past and when confronted by the dark side on Dathomir for the second time in the form of his master, Kestis fully accepted his past and grew quite a lot from the experience, acting much more level headed and very wise, almost mentoring like towards others.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | You're learning. | „ |
| ~ The Second Sister to Cal during their second duel. |
Powers[]
- The Force: Being born a force-sensitive individual, Cal had a connection to the force since he was only a child. However, his connection to it was damaged after witnessing the death of his master and betrayal of the Clone Troopers, leaving him without further training to reach his full potential. His connection was slowly being restored during his quest for the holocron, as his psychometric powers allowed him to regain his abilities via remembering his training. During his quest, Cal's powers greatly improved to the point that the Second Sister noticed this during their duel. Despite his impressive skills, he was easily outmatched by Darth Vader, who's connection to the force was far greater than most force users.
- Telekinesis: Cal was skilled in using telekinesis, but he didn't entirely master it due to his trauma and losing the chance to be fully trained. On Bracca, the only telekinetic ability he possessed was the ability to put enemies on stasis, which grew stronger during the hunt for the holocron. As his quest continued, he regained his memories on using telekinesis, allowing him to push or pull objects or opponents, swim faster, and run on walls for brief seconds. Five years later Cal also learned how to raise and lower objects through the force as well.
- Psychometry: Cal possess the rare force ability to relive echoes from objects by touching it, which gave Kestis knowledge about any planet or previous person that resided there. The ability can be use against him, however, as when he touched Trilla's lightsaber, he was forced to relive her memories, thus preventing him from stopping her since he held the holocron.
- Animal Taming: Using the Force Cal could calm and tame many different creatures, even gaining their help in navigating the harsh environments of the planets he explored.
- Force Speed: While navigating the temples on Jedha Cal learned how to enhance his speed in the force, even while in mid-air.
- Dark Side Expertise: After confronting Bode Akuna at the ISB base on Nova Garon, Cal temporarily gave in to the Dark Side of the Force, giving him the ability to enhance all of his Force abilities and heighten his combat ability, making him much extremely lethal in battle. Cal immediately displayed an impressive and unsettling natural proficiency with it, easily slicing his way through Imperial forces and overpowering elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Sentry droids with much greater ease than he could before. Cal was able to gain some measure of control over himself due to coaching from Merrin, which was the only reason he was not fully consumed by the Dark Side entirely. Cal later used this ability to overpower Bode in their final duel on Tanalorr, being able to overpower the former Jedi when before he was unable to.
- Force Rage: While using the Dark Side Cal goes into a fugue state based on anger, enhancing all of his physical and force abilities by a great degree.
Abilities[]
- Peak-Human Physical Conditioning: Due to years working as a scrapper and rigger on Bracca, Cal is in excellent physical condition, being capable of many athletic feats even before restoring his Force connection. Cal was extremely agile, fast, physically strong, and durable, able to survive many injuries that would have killed others.
- Master Climber/Freerunner: Alongside his enhanced abilities via the force, Cal was skilled in parkour and free climbing due to his time as a scrapper.
- Master Acrobat: Cal was extremely agile and possessed great acrobat ability due to his Force enhancement. By 9bby, five years after reconnecting to the Force, Cal's acrobatic ability had greatly evolved.
- Genius Level-Intellect/Master Tactician/Expert Investigator: Cal was highly intelligent, having extensive knowledge of ships due to his years as a rigger for the Scrapper Guild. He was also quick thinking, able to survive numerous situations due to his athleticism and connection to the force. Cal's critical thinking skills were also excellent, being able to solve the many puzzles and traps throughout the Zeffo tombs, as well as navigate the harsh and hazardous terrain of Kashyyyk's shadowlands. Cal was also a clever strategist, able to think well on his feet during desperate situations to outwit his enemies, such as both Trilla and Ninth Sister, and with the assistance of his friends was able to formulate an effective plan to infiltrate the Fortress Inquisitorius, something that currently only Obi-wan Kenobi is known to have also accomplished. In the following years Cal's ability as a strategist and tactician greatly improved, with him leading many raids on Imperial compounds under Saw Gerrera's direction, leading to him becoming seen as an infamous outlaw by Imperial forces and citizens. Cal was also a skilled Investigator and tracker separate from his Psychometric abilities, being able to deduce details of a scene with remarkable ability based on little information. With help from Bode Akuna, Cal was able to formulate an effective plan to defeat the fallen Jedi Master Dagan Gera, who himself had experience in war, and was able to eventually outsmart him by switching off attacks from himself and Bode Akuna to overwhelm Dagan, before using the force to turn Dagan's fears against him.
- Expert Engineer: Due to his times as a rigger, Cal was skilled in engineering and mechanics, allowing him to upgrade BD-1 on several occasions and rebuild his lightsaber, as well as possess enough understanding of the internal workings of an AT-AT walker to be able to infiltrate and take control of one. Cal shows himself to have a brilliant understanding of machinery both on a small and large level, being able to modify his lightsaber into a crossguard saber, modify BD-1's internal workings, and was able to jury-rig an ascension cable into his gear with a minute's time.
- Bilingualism: Cal could understand multiple languages spoken by his coworkers on Bracca, as well as droid binary, capable to communicate with BD-1 on their journey.
- Expert Pilot: Sometime between the events of both games Cal became skilled with flying, being allowed to pilot the Mantis in Greez's stead for Rebel missions.
- Wisdom: Due to his master's training, Cal was wise and humble, willing to give advice or mentorship to his friends during their quest. His wisdom allowed him to to sympathize with others, such as Merrin on losing her sisters during the Clone Wars, or Trilla's past with becoming an inquisitor. Five years later Cal proved capable of Solving the trials left behind by Santari Khri, as well as those left by the Force religions of Jedha. Cal was also able to recognize the folly in Dagan Gera's plans, as well as gain insight into the Dark Jedi's nature, allowing him to eventually overcome him.
- Master hand-to-hand combatant: Cal was an extremely skilled fighter separate from his lightsaber skill. Even after five years out of combat Cal easily held his own against entire squads of Imperial scout troopers armed with electro batons, and held his own impressively against the Second Sister, even if she was holding back. As the game progressed, Cal's mastery with the Force improved, and his physical ability did as well. Cal was able to outmatch highly skilled Purge troopers, who were experts in hand-to-hand combat and weapons, as well as being trained specifically to counter Jedi tactics and techniques. Additionally. Cal was able to defeat Nightbrothers in combat, even when they were enhanced by Magic to make them stronger. Cal also continually went toe-to-toe with bounty hunters and commandos employed by the Haxion Brood, even when they were using equipment such as jetpacks, flamethrowers, and wrist rockets. Cal also was able to defeat the formidable Zeffo tomb guardians, powerful advanced droids who possessed limited resistance to lightsabers. Throughout his journey Cal also faced many extremely dangerous beasts as well, even a massive Chirodactyl known as Gorgara. Five years later Cal was able to contend himself well against the electrostaff armed Bedlam Raiders, the Raider controlled Super-battledroids, and fight evenly with the extremely formidable Separatist B-X Commando Droids, who had previously proved formidable matches to well trained ARC-Trooper clones. Cal also proved capable of facing and defeating reprogrammed Magnaguards, who had proven formidable matches to fully trained Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. Cal eventually fought and defeated the extremely strong and skilled Gen'Dai warrior Rayvis, Who had previously required an entire team of Jedi masters to subdue, and only Dagan Gera had been able to defeat one-on-one before. After temporarily embracing the Dark Side, Cal displayed devastating skill in combat, being able to single handedly cut his way through common Imperial forces with no resistance, and overpower elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Sentry droids with terrifying ease compared to his previous difficulty.
- Master Swordsman: Cal was a formidable lightsaber duelist, being an especially skilled practitioner of Jar'kai and was a master saberstaff fighter. When using a single blade, Cal seems to favor Forms V & III, utilizing strong two-handed cuts and slashes alongside a solid defense against both melee and range. Cal was also a skilled practitioner of Form VI, being a skilled saber-staff wielder and Jar'Kai user, both styles of which favor Niman. Cal also seems to be proficient with Form II, Makashi, utilizing it with expert competence when dual-wielding his saber and blaster together. During the quest for Tanalorr, Cal also became skilled at using a crossguard lightsaber, as well as dual wielding his lightsaber and a blaster alongside one another with great proficiency. Initially Cal only retained his rudimentary lightsaber training, being proficient enough using basic cuts, parries, thrusts and blocks, but was able to hold his own impressively against the Second Sister in their first duel on Bracca, though she was clearly holding back. As his journey progressed, and his attunement with the Force improved, Cal's original skill returned to him, allowing him to outmatch many opponents wielding lightsaber resistant weapons, such Imperial scout troopers, the highly trained Purge Troopers, and Dathomiri Nightbrothers, allowing him to slowly hone his skill with experience. Cal's skill had improved such that he could fight the Second Sister to a match when they dueled on Zeffo, even having the upper hand until she used the Force against him. Cal was eventually able to fight the Ninth Sister to a match on Kashyyyk, soundly defeating her and even cutting off her hand, eventually Force-pushing her out of a tree. After bonding with a new Kyber crystal and rebuilding his lightsaber Cal's skill and power reached its peak, him becoming faster and more precise in his technique then before. Cal was then able to fight the fallen Jedi master Taron Malicos on a fair footing, evenly matching his lightsaber skill nearly equally, though because Malicos was stronger in the Force than Cal he was unable to defeat him without help from Merrin. Cal was able to match Second Sister as an equal during their duel on Bogano, with Cal soundly winning the fight, only losing due to being incapacitated from the memories attached to her lightsaber. In the end Cal was able to duel her one last time in the Fortress Inquisitorius, evenly matching her blade skill blow-for-blow, and was able to eventually overpower her with superior mastery of the Force. Cal was then Forced to flee by the arriving Darth Vader, who Cal proved no match for. It should be noted, however, that Cal was able to score a number of hits on the Sith Lord, which is impressive considering the number of experienced Jedi masters who were unable to accomplish even that much when facing Vader. Five years later, during the Coruscant heist, Cal showed greatly improved skill. Cal's skill with Jar'Kai and the saberstaff had risen to mastery, and blaster deflection skill had greatly improved as well. Cal was notably able to defeat the Ninth Sister once more, doing so with much greater ease than he had before, even while she was using her mental abilities to read Cal's every move. Cal also showed much less effort when when defeating Purge troopers, showing his greater skill improvement. Cal was also able to contend with the lightsaber wielding Bedlam Raider lieutenants. Cal was also able to hold his own against the superiorly powerful and skilled Dagan Gera, who had been a Jedi Master prior to falling to the Dark Side, but was only able to defeat him with the assistance of Bode Akuna, though it should be noted that at the end of their fight Cal was able to fairly match Dagan one-on-one after Bode had been incapacitated, eventually successfully defeating the fallen Jedi through combined skill and use of the Force to turn Dagan's own fears against him. Cal eventually faced Bode himself in combat, at first with help from Merrin but later in the fight Cal faced him alone and defeated him with Bode having to feign surrender to catch Cal off guard, forcing Cal to kill his former friend. Despite his tremendous improvement in skill, Cal's duelling skill was still seemed to be inferior to that of his former Master Cere Junda, who proved capable of fighting Darth Vader on equal grounds. After accessing the Dark Side Cal's skill improved even further, allowing him to kill most common opponents in one hit and overpower elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Imperial Sentry Droids with extreme ease compared to before.
- Jar'Kai Mastery: After rebuilding his lightsaber, Cal began using split saber configuration, allowing him to use a dual blade function. Cal immediately showed high proficiency with the style, easily cutting his way through Imperial forces on Ilum. Five years later Cal's skill had noticeably improved, with him showcasing his skill during his duel with the Ninth Sister, using Jar'Kai to defeat her.
- Saber-staff Mastery: Cal is extremely skilled with a double-bladed configuration, originally being fairly skilled in the form before greatly improving with time. By the time of the Coruscant heist, Cal was capable of performing acrobatic twirls, throws, jumps, and many of the techniques showcased by the former Sith Lord Darth Maul, displaying Cal's increase in skill with the form.
- Crossguard Mastery: After adding the crossguard attachment to his blade, Cal proved immediately skilled with it, especially impressive considering that he had never used the style previously. With practice Cal learned how to deflect blaster bolts with increased charge using the blade, as well as slicing through Imperial riot shields, something that he could not do with traditional configuration.
- Master Swordsman: Cal was a formidable lightsaber duelist, being an especially skilled practitioner of Jar'kai and was a master saberstaff fighter. When using a single blade, Cal seems to favor Forms V & III, utilizing strong two-handed cuts and slashes alongside a solid defense against both melee and range. Cal was also a skilled practitioner of Form VI, being a skilled saber-staff wielder and Jar'Kai user, both styles of which favor Niman. Cal also seems to be proficient with Form II, Makashi, utilizing it with expert competence when dual-wielding his saber and blaster together. During the quest for Tanalorr, Cal also became skilled at using a crossguard lightsaber, as well as dual wielding his lightsaber and a blaster alongside one another with great proficiency. Initially Cal only retained his rudimentary lightsaber training, being proficient enough using basic cuts, parries, thrusts and blocks, but was able to hold his own impressively against the Second Sister in their first duel on Bracca, though she was clearly holding back. As his journey progressed, and his attunement with the Force improved, Cal's original skill returned to him, allowing him to outmatch many opponents wielding lightsaber resistant weapons, such Imperial scout troopers, the highly trained Purge Troopers, and Dathomiri Nightbrothers, allowing him to slowly hone his skill with experience. Cal's skill had improved such that he could fight the Second Sister to a match when they dueled on Zeffo, even having the upper hand until she used the Force against him. Cal was eventually able to fight the Ninth Sister to a match on Kashyyyk, soundly defeating her and even cutting off her hand, eventually Force-pushing her out of a tree. After bonding with a new Kyber crystal and rebuilding his lightsaber Cal's skill and power reached its peak, him becoming faster and more precise in his technique then before. Cal was then able to fight the fallen Jedi master Taron Malicos on a fair footing, evenly matching his lightsaber skill nearly equally, though because Malicos was stronger in the Force than Cal he was unable to defeat him without help from Merrin. Cal was able to match Second Sister as an equal during their duel on Bogano, with Cal soundly winning the fight, only losing due to being incapacitated from the memories attached to her lightsaber. In the end Cal was able to duel her one last time in the Fortress Inquisitorius, evenly matching her blade skill blow-for-blow, and was able to eventually overpower her with superior mastery of the Force. Cal was then Forced to flee by the arriving Darth Vader, who Cal proved no match for. It should be noted, however, that Cal was able to score a number of hits on the Sith Lord, which is impressive considering the number of experienced Jedi masters who were unable to accomplish even that much when facing Vader. Five years later, during the Coruscant heist, Cal showed greatly improved skill. Cal's skill with Jar'Kai and the saberstaff had risen to mastery, and blaster deflection skill had greatly improved as well. Cal was notably able to defeat the Ninth Sister once more, doing so with much greater ease than he had before, even while she was using her mental abilities to read Cal's every move. Cal also showed much less effort when when defeating Purge troopers, showing his greater skill improvement. Cal was also able to contend with the lightsaber wielding Bedlam Raider lieutenants. Cal was also able to hold his own against the superiorly powerful and skilled Dagan Gera, who had been a Jedi Master prior to falling to the Dark Side, but was only able to defeat him with the assistance of Bode Akuna, though it should be noted that at the end of their fight Cal was able to fairly match Dagan one-on-one after Bode had been incapacitated, eventually successfully defeating the fallen Jedi through combined skill and use of the Force to turn Dagan's own fears against him. Cal eventually faced Bode himself in combat, at first with help from Merrin but later in the fight Cal faced him alone and defeated him with Bode having to feign surrender to catch Cal off guard, forcing Cal to kill his former friend. Despite his tremendous improvement in skill, Cal's duelling skill was still seemed to be inferior to that of his former Master Cere Junda, who proved capable of fighting Darth Vader on equal grounds. After accessing the Dark Side Cal's skill improved even further, allowing him to kill most common opponents in one hit and overpower elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Imperial Sentry Droids with extreme ease compared to before.
- Master Marksman: After arriving on Jedha, Cal was given a blaster by Bode Akuna, with the man also teaching him how to use it. Cal proved to be extremely proficient with it, even learning how to wield it in his off hand alongside his lightsaber, could fire charged attacks, fire targeted volleys at multiple soldiers in quick succession, and even rebound shots off multiple targets and surfaces, likely with the assistance of the force to guide his aim.
- Indomitable Will: Despite being shaken from past trauma, Kestis is a fearless and resilient individual, as he stood against Darth Vader and refused to give him the Holocron on Nur despite realizing that he could not likely stand long against the Sith Lord. Cal also fearlessly faced the Fallen Jedi Master Dagan Gera, despite knowing that the man was likely stronger and more skilled than he was. The strength of Cal's willpower was most greatly displayed during his duel with Gera, where Cal was able to force off the fallen Jedi Master's mental attacks, turning them against Gera himself by targeting his fears of rejection by Santari Khri to emotionally compromise him enough to be defeated. Cal later proved able to control and overcome the Dark Side, after he began to use it some degree after Bode's betrayal.
Quotes[]
| “ | There are three rules to survive: Don't stand out; don't reach out. Accept the past. Trust no one; trust only in the Force. | „ |
| ~ Cal Kestis in the trailer. |
| “ | I'm trash. Just not approved trash. | „ |
| ~ Cal to an overseer droid. |
| “ | Something happened to me during the Purge. I survived, but my connection to the Force is damaged. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Cere on his connection to the force. |
| “ | It's an.. echo in the Force from the object. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Cere on his ability to relive echoes from an object. |
| “ | I guess you were the someone I was supposed to meet. | „ |
| ~ Cal to BD-1. |
| “ | That is BD-1. He's with us. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Greez on BD-1. |
| “ | No, we are not doing that again. | „ |
| ~ Cal to BD-1 on manning an AT-AT. |
| “ | What about for a Jedi? | „ |
| ~ Cal during his duel against the Ninth Sister. |
| “ | I can stop you. | „ |
| ~ Cal to the Ninth Sister during their first duel. |
| “ | We did. I wouldn't be here without all of you. I used to sit on Bracca dreaming about storming Coruscant with survivors from the Jedi Council. Instead, the Order's hopes rest on a gambler, a fallen Jedi, and a failed Padawan. A bunch of screw ups. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Cere and Greez. |
| “ | BD's the only reliable one. He let Cordova wipe his memories so he could stay behind and guide us. But you're both willing to sacrifice everyhing; to keep going even when it seeems impossible. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Cere and Greez. |
| “ | No. Facing you... Memories that have haunted me since Bracca...I won't run from them anymore. | „ |
| ~ Cal to the specter of Tapal. |
| “ | No. Master. I will never forget. The loss has become a part of me. I will honor your teaching. And your sacrifice. | „ |
| ~ Cal to the specter of Tapal. |
| “ | After the Purge... I was alone for a... a long time. In hiding, I was... I was scared that they'd find out who I was or... What I was. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Merrin. |
| “ | Well, no, but... Life has this funny way of forcing you on the path forward anyway. Now here I am. Where I least expected. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Merrin. |
| “ | I know what it's like to lose everything. And Malicos was wrong to use that against you. We don't have to be enemies. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Merrin. |
| “ | I'm not interested in power. I want to restore the Order. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Malicos. |
| “ | Maybe. But it's never over, Malicos. We stand here now with a chance to learn. To rebuild from our mistakes. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Malicos. |
| “ | Thank you for helping me with Malicos. Thought I was a goner for a minute. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Merrin after defeating Malicos. |
| “ | You won't be alone. You'll have a friend with you. | „ |
| ~ Cal to Cere on their mission to Nern. |
| “ | Darth Vader: You would be wise to surrender. Cal Kestis: Yeah. Probably. |
„ |
| ~ Darth Vader and Cal on Nurn. |
| “ | I'll never give it to you! | „ |
| ~ Cal standing his ground against Darth Vader and refusing to give him the holocron. |
| “ | So... Where to now? | „ |
| ~ Cal to his crew mates after destroying the holocron. |
Trivia[]
- Before settling on Kestis, the game developers thought about having either an alien or female protagonist, but Kestis was ultimately used because they didn't want to "alienate" the player nor have a female protagonist competing with Rey, the sequel trilogy's protagonist.
- Cal Kestis' name was revealed at the Chicago's celebration convention in 2019.
- Cal's voice actor Cameron Monghan also played Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska in Gotham (both were earlier versions of Joker) making Cal similar to Luke Skywalker's Mark Hamill, who played the role as a Jedi and Joker in numerous media.
- Also Cal looks similar to Jerome and Jeremiah due to the actor being motion captured.
External Links[]
- Cal Kestis on the Star Wars Wiki
- Cal Kestis on the Near Pure Good Wiki
